Defensible Maintenance Strategies

So you’ve got a good design that has a “feel good” factor that is going to give you many years of reliable service.  But will it?  What can possibly go wrong?

From the outset, like so may other human artefacts, your new, bright and shiny piece of equipment is doomed.  It is decreed by the Laws of Physics.  Nothing lasts forever.

Of course, the time taken to deteriorate depends primarily on how good the design actually is.  How robust is it?  How close to its maximum performance will it be operating?  How will it operate – continuously, intermittently, or only when circumstances combine to require it to operate?  Does the designer actually understand the circumstances in which you intend to use it?  Does the manufacturer?  Is the warranty that comes with it actually worth anything?

What keeps your equipment running is, ultimately, intervening to slow or reverse the deterioration process.  We can slow the process by re-preserving the components or ensuring that, for example, lubrication is applied.  We can only “reverse” the process by replacing worn parts for ones in new or better condition.  In the latter case, the manufacturer might recommend when parts need to be replaced, not necessarily out of some kind of altruism, but in recognition of the opportunities for selling in the after-market arena.

The often adverse effect that maintenance has on equipment reliability has been recognised for decades, but the notion that regular maintenance interventions must be beneficial for the equipment continues to hold sway in many industries.  However, it has been proven that, for a worryingly large number of physical assets, reliability cannot be improved either by changing the timing or the content of the planned maintenance interventions.  In fact, in many instances, the more planned maintenance that is undertaken, the more the items are likely to fail, or need time to “bed-in” to achieve the same level of reliability that was enjoyed before the maintenance.

The traditional view has it that all equipment has a definable “life” and that maintenance should therefore be undertaken at periodicities based on that life.  But how is the “life” to be defined?  Who should define what the value for “life” should be?

It was further reasoned that the role of maintenance is not, de facto, the sustainment of assets for their own sake, but ensuring the continuation of their required functions.  It is, therefore, the consequences associated with the loss of desired function that needed to be understood before effective maintenance can be derived.  By understanding what can happen when failure occurs, all aspects can be examined to deliver optimised maintenance.

Put all these aspects together in a structured approach and safe, relevant, cost-effective and defendable maintenance for any asset used under any given circumstances can be defined.  The more progressive industries such as oil production and commercial aviation have already adopted this approach and have benefitted from increased availability and reliability of their revenue-earning assets, so important in the market place, whether it is regional, national or global.

Rmada is in the forefront of applying the techniques that will generate an efficient maintenance regime for your assets.  We do not present ourselves as either expert or knowledgeable in your field of endeavour, but we can harness your corporate knowledge (often hard won) to produce world class maintenance that will deliver your outputs to the quality you require when you require them.

We have the skills to assist you with implementing your new maintenance regime, including training, asset inventory assessment and database building.  We can also transfer the technology to make you self sufficient in the future.

Summary:  Rmada wants you to recoup your investment as quickly as possible and with minimal risk.  If gain-sharing fits your business model for reducing costs of ownership allied with world class defensible maintenance, this is a strategy we would be happy to discuss.